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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. branch — a division
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. ball — a great time
  6. pop — soda
  7. snap — to click
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. pop — to visit
  10. kick — in football
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. bore — to drill
  13. pop — music
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. ball — a dance
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. hand — help
  18. capital — a city
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. hand — in cards
  21. capital — money
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. bore — to tire
  24. bore — gave birth

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com